Nate Tyler

United States

Guinea. Paraguay. Lithuania. These are countries that make little noise on the world stage. Just like South Dakota, Iowa and Kansas are kinda non-states. In the surf world, the stretch of coast between Santa Barbara and Monterey, while wave-rich, is kind of a non-zone. It isn’t known for producing standout surfers. Until Nate Tyler came along.

Born a bit inland in Templeton, California, Nate honed his explosive surfing skills in the consistent and cold surf of Central California. Pismo to Big Sur. Beach breaks to slabs. Nate’s surf style flows like his shoulder length dirty blonde locks. Smooth like a young Rob Machado but with all the tricks and treats up his sleeves so we don’t take our eyes off.

He wins contests, the kind where you show up at the beach and surf for twenty-minute stints with colorful rash guards on over your suit. And that’s cool. But we’re more excited about the other contest he recently dominated—the inaugural round of Innersection. For someone like Nate Tyler, who’d rather blast tall airs than restrain his surfing for a judge, this is the type of contest he could wrap his head around. A three-minute clip of freesurfing pitted against a slough of other amazing surfers. No jerseys, horns, or interferences. Just let your surfing do the talking—and Nate’s screamed.